


stay awake (wishing on stars above)

by casualwonderlust



Series: Trials & Tribulations [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Morgan Stark, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Character Death, Character Growth, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Get ready for the pain train, Hurt/Comfort, Morgan Stark Origin Story, Morgan is a precious bby and she deserves better, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective Happy Hogan, Time Travel, Underage Drinking, because endgame made me cry, sorry death is a recurring thing in this story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-07-27 18:57:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20050939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casualwonderlust/pseuds/casualwonderlust
Summary: Morgan is five when her daddy goes away and never comes home. In fact, nobody comes home. The Avengers disappear. She attends her first funeral, and she cries while Happy holds her hand. 6 years later, her world is turned upside down again. She goes to another funeral, and this time, no one’s around to hold her hand. It takes her another 5 years to decide that she’s tired of waiting for something. Morgan Stark is not a quitter, and she’s getting her family back, no matter what.AKA: Morgan Stark’s origin story.





	1. age 5: feelings

_ ** Age 5. ** _

Morgan is sitting in the kitchen when her father leaves. She’s munching on Lucky Charms as she watches her father kiss her mother goodbye. Her parents have this silent way of talking; her father places his forehead against her mother’s and the two just look at each other, all emotions conveyed into a single silent moment.

“I wish I could go with you” Morgan pouts, shoveling another spoonful into her mouth, feeling the milk spill down her chin. Daddy’s brown eyes crinkle as he looks at her eating her cereal. He gives her a smile, one she’s never seen before.

His warm hand grazes over the side of her head, and he gently wipes away the drops of milk from her skin with his thumb.

“Daddy’s gotta go do some hero-work, little Miss” he says with that strange smile.

“Why can’t I come?” she whines. “I want to be a hero too!”

“Baby, daddy doesn’t want you to come because you’re going to steal his spotlight.” Her mother reassures her as she continues to wash dishes in the sink.

“Yeah, can’t have the great Maguna wrecking my style. Besides… I’ll be back before you know it.” Morgan’s father jokes. He lays a kiss on Morgan’s forehead and gives her a wink. “Don’t finish all the juice pops.”

Morgan sticks out her tongue and continues to pout.

She pouts as she watches from the window as her father greets Uncle Hulk and Uncle Rhodey outside. She’s about to yell goodbye one last time when her daddy turns back to the house one last time and stares at it.

He doesn’t say anything…he just stares at the house. Then, he lets out a long sigh and closes his eyes before turning back.

Morgan holds onto her mommy’s hand and watches as the black car drives away, taking her daddy with it.

A few days after her daddy leaves, a strange man appears in her house. Morgan was coloring Dum-E with markers (they were erasable, she promised Mommy she wouldn’t use the Sharpies anymore) when the man walked through a circle-y thing and greeted her. His red cape looked funny and Morgan thought it had a mind of its own.

“Mommy…there’s a magic man in the living room.” Morgan announces to her mother. The man raises an eyebrow at her but says nothing.

“Sweetie, they’re called magicians, not magic men” her mother corrects her from where she’s sitting in her office.

“Okay, Mommy! Hey Mr. Magician, you’re not supposed to be stepping on the carpet with dirty shoes. My daddy does that sometimes, and mommy gets mad” Morgan points out as she stares at the man’s feet. The man shrugged in response, and Morgan shrieks when the cape flies off the man’s shoulders and lays itself beneath the man’s feet, acting as a makeshift guard.

“You must be Miss Morgan Stark” The man says. Morgan nods in response. “Hmmm…you’re really young.”

“Yes I am.”

“A lot younger than who you’ll be.”

“You talk funny.” Morgan giggles.

“Morgan, who was that?” her mother yelles out but Morgan doesn’t reply; she was still trying to find ways to talk to the magic man in her living room.

The little girl stares at the weird man, and she keeps staring at him until her mother bursts into the room.

Pepper Potts looks at the man, and then turns her attention to her daughter. She scoops her child into her arms and holds her close.

“Hello Pepper, its time for you to put on the suit” the man announced; he gave her mother a grim look and nodded ominously. Morgan felt her mother’s gasp and she cocked her head in confusion as her mother slowly placed her back onto the ground.

The young girl watches as her mother quickly heads into the secret lab that Daddy told her was off-limits, and after a few minutes, her mommy emerges back in a big blue suit.

“Mommy, you look like a superhero!” she yells gleefully. Her mother gives her a sweet smile and kisses her on the cheek.

“Ok, little Miss, Mommy’s going to help your dad. Happy’s here to watch you, so be nice and listen to everything he says” said her mother. A cough is heard from behind the mother and daughter, and Morgan turns around to see Mr. Happy standing by the side of the room.

“Can I come be a superhero and help daddy too?”

“Nope, you’re my little superhero, and right now, little superheroes need to brush their teeths and take their naps on time” her mother reminds her as she brushes her hand against Morgan’s hair. The little girl frowns as she feels metal touch her strands.

“Little superheroes sound boring. I’m a big superhero” the girl announced.

“Nope, you can’t be a big superhero unless me and your dad say so” her mother replied with a bemused smile. She leans down and presses a kiss on Morgan’s forehead.

“When I get back, we’ll watch Princess Polly…then you can decide if you really want to be a superhero or a princess.”

Morgan watches as the strange man opens another golden circle-y thing and leads her mother inside. She continues to watch as the circle disappeared. She feels the couch dip as Happy sits down beside her. Slowly, she moves to lay her head against Happy’s side.

“They’ll be back before you know it, kiddo” Happy reassured her, and Morgan says nothing in reply.

“Mr. Happy, when are mommy and daddy coming back?” she asks the big, burly driver man as he places a sandwich in front of her. They’re sitting in the kitchen, and technically, Morgan’s supposed to be in bed because of nap time rules but Happy isn’t a strict babysitter, and he can’t say no to the young Stark’s puppy eyes.

Morgan sighs and stares at the sloppily-made grilled cheese lying in front of her. The little girl knew that the man wasn’t known for his meals…there was a reason why Happy only ordered takeout food whenever he came over to watch her. Yet, Morgan appreciated the effort, proceeding to take a bite of the food presented to her.

“I’m not really sure. You know your parents…they’re off saving the world, or something” Happy mumbles as he watches her eat her meal.

“But mommy promised we’d watch the new episode of Princess Polly together” Morgan whined. She was really excited when her mommy told her they could stay up watching her favorite show.

“Hey it’s okay. We’ll watch the episode together” Happy replies, trying to comfort the little girl. “We’ll even eat some of those popsicle you really like.”

“As long as you save one for Daddy.”

Morgan’s parents lied. They never came back.

It’s midnight and Morgan hears the front door open. Her heart jumps, and she gets out of bed.

_Daddy and Mommy are home!_, she happily thinks to herself as she tiptoes down the stairs. She was about to run into the living room, but the sight in front of her made her stop in her tracks.

She’s surprised to see Happy standing in the middle of the living room. His back is slouched and facing her as he whispers into his phone.

“No…that can’t be right…its not- its not possible” he says in a quiet, rough tone, his voice cracking at the end. “You’re telling me they’re all gone? All of them?!”

“Well, check the grounds again!” Happy whispered angrily into the receiver of the phone. “Yes, yes I know its fucking ground zero over there… yeah yeah… but you’ve got to check the rubble! I don’t want to think they’re all dead but we have to at least believe that there’d be bodies or something? Some type of evidence?!? I mean, they’re the Avengers, for God’s sake! Why would they all just disappear?!!?”

There is an awkward silence as the person Happy was talking with replied with their own words. Happy let out a frustrated sigh, and paced across the room as he listened to the person on the other line.

“Well, check again!” Happy yelled into the receiver before throwing the phone against the living room wall. Morgan whimpered at the sound of the phone crashing and breaking into tiny pieces. Happy turned around at the sound of her crying, and he hurriedly runs over to her and scoops her into his arms.

“They promised they’d be back for Princess Polly! And juice pops!” Morgan sobs into Happy’s shoulder. She feels his hand shake as he pats her back, and he carries her up the stairs as she continues to cry. “They promised they’d be back! They promised!”

Happy holds her as she cries. She cries herself to sleep that night.

Happy holds her hand as strangers in black clothes go up to her and say their condolences. Men tell her how great her father and mother were, and women hand her flowers. They all give her the same sad smile.

Morgan doesn’t understand anything.

She doesn’t understand why these people have to be here; she thought funerals were for people who were dead, and her parents aren’t dead!

She doesn’t get why she needs all these flowers; mommy doesn’t like flowers, they make her nose itchy, and when she gets back, she’s just going to throw them all out.

She wants to know where her parents are. She wants to know how if they’re so great, then why aren’t they here. She’s confused and she doesn’t know what’s happening.

All she knows is that her parents are gone, and Happy grips her hand and it hurts. Everything hurts.

That day, Morgan decides that she doesn’t like funerals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Morgan's story begins... sorry if this chapter's a little short, but I promise the next ones will be a heck of a lot longer. Please leave a kudos and a comment if you like the story. I'd really appreciate it.


	2. age 5: custody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a funeral. Morgan and Happy talk to the lawyers.

_ **Age 5** _

It’s been five hours since the funeral and all Morgan wanted to do was take a nap. She leaned against Happy’s side as the men in suits sat across from them. The men (Happy told her that they were “lawyers…your new word for the day…no, don’t call them meanies, they’re lawyers, Morgan”) looked grumpy as they handed Happy papers.

Morgan stifled a yawn, trying to hide her discomfort. She could hear her mother’s voice echo in her ear.

“_We don’t yawn in front of people, that’s impolite, sweetie.”_

Well, her mother also said she would be back in time for the next episode of Princess Polly, and then she lied. Lying was also impolite.

“Now, according to Mr. Stark’s and Mrs. Potts-Stark’s joint will, in the case of an event such as this unfortunate one, legal guardianship of Miss Morgan Stark would go to you and Mr. James Rhodes…but due to Mr. Rhodes’ equally sudden disappearance, as well, then custody of Miss Stark goes solely to you” one of the men explained. Morgan stared at the man; he was bald and was wearing crooked glasses that seemed to keep slipping down his nose every time he spoke.

Another man began to speak up, “It is also written in Mr. Stark’s will that Miss Stark is intended to be the heir to Stark Industries, becoming both CEO and President. However, due to her young age, control of SI will temporarily be in the hands of the board of directors until Morgan reaches the legal age of 18.”

“Yeah, but Tony would never let people he doesn’t trust control his company” Happy argued.

“Yes, we understand that Mr. Stark had his worries about the legacy of Stark Industries, but Mrs. Potts-Stark made sure that there were strict limitations set-up in accordance to the Board’s power and control of the company. We assure you that the board will do everything in its power to maintain the Stark legacy and to also prepare for Miss Stark’s leadership, when the time comes”, the bald man replied.

“As for Mr. Stark’s assets and estate, Miss Stark will receive a monthly allowance up until she reaches 18 years old. She will inherit the rest of the Stark family’s funds and possessions at around the same time.”, a third man spoke. This man had bushy eyebrows, and an equally bushy mustache, Morgan noted.

“Whoa whoa…how much money are we talking here? Morgan’s still too young…she doesn’t need –“ Happy began to speak but was abruptly cut off by the bushy eyebrow man.

“Approximately a million dollars a month.” Happy let out a surprised cough at the response. Morgan didn’t understand what the man meant. She just gripped Happy’s forearm with her hands and tugged at the material of his suit. Happy looked down at her and sighed. “Now, the board has already suggested a few good boarding schools that would happily take Miss Stark as a pupil. They’ve assured us that Miss Stark would be brought up in an appropriate manner that will ensure her likeliness to be a proper leader for SI.”

“So, what? You’re basically saying that you’re putting the fate of Tony and Pep’s legacies on this little girl’s shoulders? She’s five years old! She’s barely in kindergarten! She just lost her parents, for god’s sakes. And now, you’re telling me you want to put her in a boarding school, only to be let out when she’s ready to be the CEO the Board wants?! ” Happy said in a tight voice. “Listen…of course, I’m going to take care of Morgan. I promised Pep and Tony…and they would NEVER let their only kid go to some random boarding school. No, no, I sure as hell won’t let that happen. Morgan’s going with me, and she’s going to be in good hands. I’m going to treat her like my kid because she’s _family_ to me…and not because she’s the heir of this big operation.”

“But if any of you or any of the board try to ‘_prepare’ _this little girl for something she’s not ready for, you’re going to have a few words with me.” Happy finished. He proceeded to grab Morgan’s small hand in his and pulled her with him as he stood.

“Of course, Mr. Hogan. We would never want to endanger Miss Stark’s childhood. We and the Board understand what you’re saying. We trust that Miss Stark will be in your good hands. We would just like yours and Miss Stark’s signatures, for the custody papers” the bald man said with a shaky voice. He seemed very reactive to Happy’s speech. He handed Happy and Morgan two pens and slid the papers towards them.

“Happy…I’m sleepy...can we sign the papers later?” Morgan asked in a sheepish voice. She placed her forehead against Happy’s arms to emphasize her weariness. The group of men chuckled around her, and she looked up at Happy to see him looking down at her with a fond smile.

“You really are your father’s daughter” one of the men said. Morgan didn’t know what that meant, so she said nothing in reply.

Happy bent down and signed the papers in front of them. Once he was done, he proceeded to show Morgan how to sign her name on the papers.

“Okay, kid. Just do what I did. See here, just write your name on the line.”

“But you did it all fancy! Do I have to scribble my name too?”

“No, no, kiddo, you don’t have to do it like mine. Just write Morgan H. Stark like how you would do it when you write in your coloring books.”

“Okay…like this?”

“Yes, like that.”

“…can I put a smiley face at the end?”

“No, don’t put a smiley face…wait- that didn’t mean you should put a heart instead!?!”

“Oops?”

Once the two were done signing their names (after, Happy had finished sighing about all the hearts Morgan drew on the papers), the three men shook hands with Happy. They all wished him luck with raising a child. Then, the man with the bushy eyebrows bent down in front of Morgan and placed his hand out to shake her hand as well. Her eyes widened as she stared at the man's outstretched hand. 

She had never shook anyone's hand before. That was only something adults did, something her mommy and daddy would do. Would mommy and daddy be proud if she shook hands like a grown-up?

"Well, go on then, kid. Shake the guy's hand before it falls off." Happy urged as he nudged her forward with his hip. Morgan looked up at him, unsure of her actions. 

The little girl placed her small hand in the man's palm. The man's hand was really big, compared to hers, and it was warm...too warm.

"It was really nice to meet you, Miss Stark. If you need anything, anything at all, you just ask Mr. Hogan to call us, okay?" the man said in a surprisingly warm voice. He squeezed her hand with tiniest of pressure, and released it before Morgan could squeeze back.

Morgan bit her lip as she watched the man stand back to his full height. He gave her a tight smile before bidding the two goodbye. She watched as the men in suits, _the lawyers, _walked away from her and Happy, leaving the two of them standing alone.

"Can we go home _now_?" Morgan asked. She reached up and grabbed Happy's hand, and tugged on it. He nodded and gave her a small, affectionate smile.

"Yeah, kiddo. Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written mainly to show the aftermath of the Avengers' disappearances, in relation to Morgan's life. Obviously, being the daughter of Tony Stark puts her in a very precarious situation, and I just wanted to show how the legality of it works. Next chapter will be about the aftermath of the Avengers' disappearing on a wider scale, how it affects the world they left behind and theories on why they disappeared. It'll also have a bigger time gap as I try to get the ball rolling with Morgan's storyline. Also, we'll be seeing a lot more of Happy and Morgan's relationship...and maybe, another character will become a significant person in Morgan's life???
> 
> Anyways, please leave a kudos and a comment if you like the story so far. I'd really appreciate it.


	3. age 7: storytimes and balloons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look at Happy and Morgan's relationship after the first two years since the disappearance. Also, Morgan remembers a few things about her father's stories.
> 
> Warning: this chapter's a sad one...sorry about that.

When Morgan was three, she started to ask her father for bedtime stories. Her dad would sit by the side of her bed and tell stories of Earth’s mightiest heroes, the Avengers.

He told her stories of how he and his friends would stop bad guys all over the world, how he built a bring strong armor to help him.

_“Will you build me a big strong armor when I grow up?”_

_“No, little Miss. You don’t need an armor. You’ve got me to protect you.”_

_“But what if I want one?”_

_“Then, you’re just going to have to build yourself one.”_

_“Fine. I’ll make one even better than yours. I’ll become so smart! I’ll make my armor really really good”, _she huffed. Her father chuckled at her indignance and brushed away the strands of her hair that fell onto her forehead.

_“I’m sure you will, sweetheart. But…remember, you need more than just brains to make a good suit.”, _he replied in a soft tone. He stretched out his hand and pointed his finger at the middle of her chest.

_“You’ve got to have heart too.”_

So, she listened to her father’s stories, and she started dreaming of these heroes, in their capes and their suits of armor. She began to dream of one day flying like her father did in his stories. She hoped to one day join her father, and become a superhero, herself. She wanted to be good…good enough to save people.

She started asking for more stories of the Avengers. Her father chuckled at her enthusiasm, and continued to reminisce about his past. She even got her mother and Happy to tell her stories about superheroes too. Soon after, her coloring books started to fill with drawings of Iron Man and Auntie Nat fighting bad guys, of Captain America with his big shield (which she learned how to draw after finding a broken looking one in the garage), of Mr. Thor throwing his hammer into the air, and many more different scenarios.

Morgan started to sneak in to her father’s garage more often. She wanted to find more things about the Avengers. Every time she snuck in though, her father would usually catch her and sweep her attention with tiny bots and toys.

_“Why did the Avengers stop?”_ she asked one day. She was sitting in her bed, hugging her favorite stuffed bunny, Mr. Hops, close to her chest. Her father had been recalling one instance of the Avengers fighting some big bad guys in Brazil when she asked the question.

“_Stop what?”_

_“Stop fighting bad guys together. Weren’t you all friends? How come even though Auntie Nat and Uncle Rhodey come by, you guys never go back to being superheroes?” _she asked innocently. Her father gave her a sad smile, and tucked Mr. Hops closer to Morgan’s side before pulling up the bedsheets to cover both the girl and the bunny.

“_Because sometimes…all superheroes have to stop fighting. Because if superheroes keep fighting, then friends start to fight…and it all goes downhill from there”_, he explained. “_And besides, I can’t keep fighting bad guys when all my attention goes to you, Morgy-poo.”_

Her dad pinched her softly in the nose and Morgan giggled at the action before trying to swipe her father’s hand away.

“_Is there anything that would make you start again?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“Anything that would make Iron Man be Iron Man again?” _

“_Yeah…some things…you, and many more”_ he answered wistfully before standing up. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and flicked Mr. Hops on the head before exiting the room.

After that particular exchange, her father slowly started to decrease his telling of Avengers storytimes. Whenever Morgan asked for another superhero story, her father distracted her with stories of his inventions instead.

Morgan started to miss the tales of superheroes. She continued her drawings though, her inspiration never faltering.

“_Why do you want to hear so much about the Avengers, Missy?” _her father asked after her insistent requests for another storytime.

“_Because they’re my favorite!” _she explained. “_Don’t you have a favorite superhero, daddy?”_

Her father gave her a strange look, a long contemplating one. His face seemed deep in thought as he considered her question.

“_You know what? Yeah, I do. Let me tell you about him.” _He started. Morgan sat up in excitement; her dad was her favorite hero, so she couldn’t wait to hear about her daddy’s own personal favorite.

“_Deep in the streets of Queens lived a crime-fighting vigilante called Spider-man…”_

After that night, Morgan started to hear more about Spider-man and how he got his powers after being bitten by a spider. She was enamored with tales of the superhero who looked out for the little guy, who was brave and smart and impulsive.

_“Mommy, is it true that daddy knows Spider-man?” _she asked her mother nonchalantly as they sat together in her mother’s home-office. Her mom sat at her desk typing on her laptop whilst Morgan sat on the floor, drawing up sketches of her would-be suit.

“_Yes, sweetie. Your daddy did know Spider-man.”,_ her mother answered, looking up from her computer screen to give her daughter a confused look. “_Why do you ask?”_

_“How come I’ve never met him then?”_

Her mother sighed, and shook her head gently. “_Well, Spider-man…he-he was really brave one day, and he was trying to fight a really bad guy. He had to make a big sacrifice…and he became one of the bravest heroes that day.”_

Morgan didn’t understand what her mother meant that day. However, she did notice her father’s tone every time he talked about Spider-man; he sounded like how Morgan felt whenever her father wouldn’t let her play in his lab…like someone who was missing something, really badly.

She never asked for stories about Spider-man; she just soaked in every word her father said whenever he did decide to talk about the web-slinging hero during bedtime story-telling.

After her parents’ funeral, she started to understand the tone her parents had spoke in whenever they talked about Spider-man. That same missing feeling…it was the exact thing she felt about her parents.

She missed them so much…so much, it felt like her heart was ready to burst.

** _ Age 7 _ **

It was the morning of Morgan’s seventh birthday, and Happy was running around the house with handfuls of strings attached to floating balloons in his hands.

“_Hey kiddo, what do you want for your birthday?”_

“_Balloons. Lots of balloons!”_

She had requested for balloons, and Happy went above and beyond to make sure that her wish was met.

The man had ordered truckloads – literal truckloads - of balloons of all different types and colors. He proceeded to spend the early hours of the morning methodically planting balloons around the cabin and surrounding forest. There were pink hearts floating on trees, purple candles and cakes floating in every direction in the living room – every square foot of the Stark-owned property was occupied with some sort of balloon.

Morgan woke up to Happy placing a small cupcake and Mr. Hops on top of her. He wished her a happy birthday then proceeded to nag her about getting ready for breakfast (because according to him, he had “finally mastered the art of the French toast”).

“We’re going to go see Mommy and Daddy, right?” she asks as she chews through her mouthful of cinnamon bread.

“Yup…we’ll go as soon as you finish your breakfast” he answered back as he placed a basket of what seemed to be a flower-balloon assortment on the table.

Morgan nodded and continued to eat with Happy in comfortable silence.

Throughout the two years the two have spent together, they both got used to each other’s presence. Whilst Happy had already been a constant person in Morgan’s life even before her conception, his new role as her guardian only seemed to awaken his protective uncle side.

And, boy was Uncle Happy protective.

Happy was there for Morgan from the moment she woke up in the morning up until she closed her eyes at night. He did everything in his power to make Morgan Stark happy.

When she pouted about how she used to love the times her mother used to tie Morgan’s hair whenever it started to grow too long, Happy spent hours on YouTube learning how to tie the perfect braid, then, he proceeded to routinely brush and tie her hair first thing every morning. As soon as her hair grew to a length she wasn’t comfortable with, he called in the best celebrity hairdresser to personally set-up an at-home salon session for the girl.

When Happy remembered that Pepper Potts was allergic to strawberries, he wasted no time doubting Morgan’s possible allergic gene to the fruit and he banned everything strawberry-related in the house (including the strawberry-scented shampoo FRIDAY had once ordered online).

After learning that Morgan liked anything with cheese on it, Happy started taking online classes, and after a few weeks of practicing recipes in the kitchen whilst Morgan took her naps, he started writing a list of foods to serve the little girl that had all types of cheese incorporated in every meal on the list. Additionally, he dubbed Saturdays as the weekly cheeseburger day, and he would take the girl through the Burger King drive-thru and even let her order her own food.

At first, he homeschooled Morgan for a year as she went through preschool, noting that she was an incredibly fast-learner for someone who was supposedly a kindergarten student (which actually made sense, seeing as she was the daughter of known genius, Tony Stark). By the end of their first year together, Morgan had already memorized her multiplication tables and started learning beginner Algebra.

Then, when one of the Starks’ lawyers implied that Morgan had to start going to elementary school, Happy researched and went to each and every advanced learning school in the tri-state area. He interviewed every headmaster in all the schools, intimidating all the teachers. He inspected all the facilities, making sure that they had good security systems set up. Finally, when he was confident that he found the right school for Morgan, he made sure to accompany the little girl to and from school. He even went as far as to make sure FRIDAY had access to the school’s camera and sent hourly updates to his phone, where he could watch Morgan’s progress and location whilst waiting for her at the nearby Stark Industries regional branch office (which he may or may not have forced the Board to let him be the head director of, due to its proximity to Morgan’s school).

Overall, he did his best to appease the little girl he had grown to love, and she did the same for him.

Morgan knew how stressed Happy could get about her, so she did her best to not cause him any trouble. She always listened to everything he said, and started doing small things to help him out. Things like giving him drawings of flowers and them together (all of which he framed and placed in his office at the branch office), and helping him cut vegetables whenever he was cooking her something to eat, and eating said vegetables when he told her to do so.

After Happy had moved into the cabin, Morgan made sure to paint the walls of his room with her handprint, so that he felt more at home. When he saw Morgan’s little handprints painted in pink on the wall by the side of his dresser, he even teared up a bit and dragged her out to get cheeseburgers.

She knew that Happy got sad whenever she was sad. So, she tried to always be her best self…which was really tiring. And hard.

Morgan never let Happy see her miss her parents. She never let anyone see that side of her.

At school, if her teachers were talking about families and stuff like that, Morgan would stay silent and look away, always trying to hide her tears.

Secretly, she always misses her parents. She always waits up at night (even after Happy closes the bedroom door and bids her goodnight) to see if one day, they’ll open the front door and come home.

Some nights, she sneaks down to the garage and sits down on top of her daddy’s worktable, and she draws up sketches of suits she would build to find her parents. Whenever she did this, she could even imagine her daddy’s voice telling her in a strict, but soft voice, “_Get down from there, Maguna. You know you can’t be playing in my garage, without me to be your ever faithful lab assistant.”_

She always hid her little design projects. The notebooks full of templates and doodles of her imagination stayed in piles locked away behind her coloring books and fairy tales, somewhere not even FRIDAY could find. And those drawings were going to stay there, until Morgan said so…until she could find a miracle that would help her bring her parents back home.

“Hey, birthday girl, we’re here” Happy announced from the driver’s seat of the car. He looked back at the little girl sitting in the back passenger seat. She kept staring at what was outside the window, her small hand gripping the strings of the three pink balloons she had insisted on bringing with her.

Happy got out of the car, and helped the girl climb out from her seat. He held her hand as they walked passed the gravestones in the field together.

The two walked in silence for a minute until they came to a stop in front of two headstones, one for Anthony Edward Stark and the other for his wife, Virginia Potts-Stark.

Happy bowed his head, silently paying his respects to his two friends. In his head, he reported everything that was going on with their daughter, telling them the highlights of the past year.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stark stood silently, staring at the graves of her parents.

It was almost two years since the stones were erected onto the ground, and Morgan had learned a lot since then. She slowly started to understand how time works, how to gauge the importance of things…and most importantly, what these graves meant.

“Hi Mommy, hi daddy. It’s my birthday today! I’m seven now…which means I’m in elementary school now! Daddy, I’m a first grader! But Happy took me to this school, and my teachers there keep telling me I’m way smarter than a kindergartener, like I’m smart like daddy. They tell me I should be a fifth grader or something…I don’t know.” Morgan said, talking directly to her parents.

“I’m wearing this dress…its purple. It’s actually the dress you bought me when I started homeschool classes, Mommy! See, look at the stars on the sleeves. Remember them?” she pointed at her dress. “It’s getting kind of small, though. I guess I just wanted to show you guys.”

As she spoke, Morgan could feel something painful in her chest. Like a stomach ache in her heart. She felt tears start to pool up in her eyes.

“I miss you guys and I love you guys, 3000.” She whispered. Slowly, she raised her hand to show the balloons she had brought. “I brought balloons. My teacher says that people go to heaven sometimes, and she told me that you are up there with Uncle Steve and Auntie Nat and everyone. I just wanted to maybe bring you some balloons so you guys remember it’s my birthday.”

Happy’s eyes widened as he watched the girl slowly release her grip on the strings, and all three balloons floated up into the air. The two watched silently until the balloons disappeared up into the atmosphere, until they were no longer visible to the human eye.

“Mommy and daddy…they are not coming back, are they, Uncle Happy?” Morgan asked when she turned back to look at Happy. The older man’s heart sunk at the girl’s heartbroken expression; she had tears streaming down her face and her lower lip trembled as she sobbed silently.

“I don’t know, sweetie” he answered back. He reached down to wipe the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs.

“I’m tired…can we go home now?” she asked suddenly.

“A-are you sure? You don’t want to say goodbye?” he questioned.

“Why should I say goodbye to people who aren’t even here?” the little girl asked in a sad voice. At that response, Happy sighed and wrapped an arm around the little girl’s shoulders.

“Kiddo…”

“Let’s go, Uncle Happy” she urged, leading the way back towards the car.

Happy, once again, helped the girl back into the passenger seat, and made his way to the front to start the engine. As the car began to exit out of the cemetery, Happy glanced back at the girl from the rear-view mirror.

She sat solemnly, leaning against her arm as she stared out through the window.

“Want to go get cheeseburgers, kid?” he asked, breaking the silence. The car made its way into the freeway, and Morgan watched the buildings pass by, one by one. “That always helped cheer your dad up on days like this.”

The girl looked straight back at Happy and gave him a small, tight smile.

“No, I don’t think I like cheeseburgers anymore.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…and Happy…is it okay if we cut my hair when we get back home?” she asked timidly in the same monotoned voice.

“Yeah, yeah, sure…whatever you want”, he complied. “I mean it is your birthday.”

“Good…I think I want to make it really short this time.”

“How-how short are we talking here?”

“Short enough that I won’t have to tie it up anymore.” Happy raised an eyebrow at the sudden request, but he nodded anyways.

“Sure…that your last request?” he asked, even though a part of him told him to let it go.

“No…uh…one more thing…”she added.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s throw out all the juice pops.”

Happy agreed with all the strange requests Morgan had asked. He called in the hairdresser and scheduled an appointment; he watched as strands of Morgan's hair fell to the floor. Later that night, he made Dum-E and FRIDAY clear out the last box of juice pops in the freezer.

It was only after he had tucked her into bed that Happy realized something.

_Morgan never looked back when they walked away from her parents. _

_She didn't say goodbye._

_She didn't think they were ever coming back home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you to get ready for the PAIN TRAIN. Also, I did promise longer chapters...so here y'all go.  
Aww, little Morgan really deserves all the good things in life!!!!  
Here was another look at Uncle Happy and little Morgan's relationship, and how Morgan learns about Spider-man. In the next chapter, there's going to be a lot of time jumps; we revisit another character that seems to be missing something too. Don't worry guys, I'm going to try to make Morgan be a little bit happier (pay attention to the word TRY). No promises, though.
> 
> Anyways, please leave a kudos and a comment if you like the story so far. I'd really appreciate it.


	4. age 8: research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan does some research about Spider-Man, and takes a little trip to find answers.

_ **Age 8.** _

Morgan was lazily doing her math homework when she suddenly though of the question. Pushing aside her workbook (which she had already completed hours ago), she bit her lip as she slowly raised her head to look at the ceiling.

“Hey, FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Little Boss?” the computer answered back.

“Do you know anything about Spider-man?” she whispered.

“Yes, in accordance to your father’s request, I kept all records that had anything to do in regards to Spider-man and his activities.”

“So…you know…you know who he is?” she asked in a quiet tone, afraid that Happy would hear her from where he was in the kitchen downstairs, preparing dinner.

“Yes, Spider-man’s known civilian identity is Peter Benjamin Parker. Born on August 10, 2001 in Queens, New York to Richard and Mary Parker. Last known age: 16 years old. Last Known Location or Whereabouts: Unknown. Current Status: Unknown” FRIDAY replied.

“Peter Parker…huh…daddy knew him.” The little girl contemplated to herself. “FRIDAY…can you-can you maybe show me more Spider-man things?”

“Would you like me to report my records in a visual format, Little Boss?”

“Um…yeah? Can you do like a cartoon…with like…Spongebob voices?”

“Unfortunately, my system has not yet been upgraded to said Spongebob operating software. However, I can show you all the video footage in my files. I can also show you images, if you would like.” The AI replied.

“Awww…I’m going to fix you one day so you can do the voices.” Morgan assured.

“I eagerly await any ideas you have regarding my software.” FRIDAY said in a, surprisingly, soft voice. “Loading up visual aid on Spider-man files now.”

Suddenly, Morgan’s bedroom filled with holograms of videos of a man in red and blue flying through the air.

“Whoa…that’s cool” Morgan whispered to herself as she stared at the videos of superhero.

This was her first time actually seeing Spider-man in action. The way he moved through the air and swung between buildings amazed her, but a small part of her was saddened.

Spider-man moved across the air like he was flying… he looked like Morgan’s daddy… and Morgan didn’t want to think about her daddy.

Shoving the thought of her father aside, she continued to watch Spider-man as he fought criminals on the streets of Queens. Morgan focused on the mask Spider-man wore when he fought…she wanted to see what was behind it.

“Um FRIDAY, can you show me what Peter Parker looks like?”

As soon as she uttered her request, a photo appeared in front of her displaying a boy with brown hair, and wide brown eyes. Morgan’s brows furrowed as she examined the boy in front of her.

“He’s…he’s Spider-man.” She said, cocking her head to the side as she looked at the photo. “He…he’s really young for a superhero. Young like me.”

“Yes. Yes, he was young.” FRIDAY agreed.

“MORGAN! TIME FOR DINNER!” Happy yelled from downstairs. Morgan frowned at the interruption and took one more look at the boy known as Peter Parker.

“FRIDAY, can you keep the videos and pictures until I get back?” she asked as she made her way to the door.

“Of course, I will momentarily keep all records on standby until you request for their viewing.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY!”

“Don’t forget to eat your vegetables this time, Miss Stark” the AI reminded as the young girl made her way out of the room. 

“You sure you don’t want me to tuck you in tonight, kid?” Happy asked as they walked down the hallway towards her room. Morgan frowned and shook her head.

“Noooo, Happy. I can go to bed without a bedtime story.” Morgan insisted. “Actually, I don’t even need bedtime stories anymore!”

“Oh right, I keep forgetting. You’re too old for bedtime stories, aren’t you?” Happy teased.

“I’m eight years old!” Morgan reminded him. To her, eight-year-olds don’t need people tucking them into bed.

“Yeah, you _are_ eight years old. Wow, I keep forgetting you’re practically an adult now!” Happy joked in a sarcastic tone.

Morgan stuck her tongue out at him. “Night, Uncle Happy” she said, choosing to ignore the man’s quiet chuckles.

“Yeah, goodnight, Miss I-Am-An-Adult” Happy replied. He opened the door to his bedroom before adding, “You know what to do. Remember if you need anything jus-“

“Call you or ask FRIDAY to wake you up…I knoooow” she grumbled as she entered into her bedroom. As she shut the door, she could still hear Happy’s soft laughter.

Morgan made her way towards her bed and sat on top of her comforter, placing her trusty Mr. Hops on top of her lap. She looked up expectantly, and whispered, “Hey FRIDAY, can you show me Spider-man again?”

The AI responded by displaying the photo of Peter Parker front and center, with several other pictures and videos displayed in the background.

“Am I to assume that I should not alert Mr. Hogan that you are not getting ready for bed?” The AI asked.

“Yes…don’t tell him. Oh, and can you keep the volume down?” Morgan really didn’t want Happy to know that she was still awake, especially after convincing him that she would be able to get herself ready for bed. The last thing she wanted was for Happy to burst into her room and see her with all these files about Spider-man.

“Volume is now set to 15%” FRIDAY answered back in a hushed tone.

“Now…show me more stuff about Spider-Man.” 

Morgan yawned as she sat by the kitchen table, watching with half-glazed eyes as Dum-E prepared her cereal by pouring milk into her bowl. Outside, she could see Happy grumbling to himself as he picked out weeds in the garden.

“Yum” she mumbled when Dum-E dropped her bowl in front of her, spilling some drops of milk on the table. “Thanks, Dum-E.”

She had spent most of her night listening to FRIDAY’s reports on Peter Parker and Spider-man, only to finally climb into bed when FRIDAY’s babysitting system stepped in and locked all files from viewing when the clock struck 11pm.

The young girl had learned so much about Spider-man. He went to Midtown High School-which meant he was probably smart.

_Smart like daddy probably_, she mused to herself as she chewed through her breakfast. 

Spider-man was only sixteen when he disappeared, and a year before his disappearance, he started to make his appearances in Queens. When he started featuring in the YouTube videos Morgan saw, he had been wearing a red and blue pajama-looking costume. After a few videos, Morgan saw him wearing a new suit which looked shiny...shiny like something her dad would make. Morgan did the math, and she guessed that her father probably met Peter when he was either fourteen or fifteen.

When Morgan found out that her favorite hero was young like her, she didn't know how to feel.

A part of her was happy that Spider-Man was only a teenager. _He was brave, and he was young. She wanted to be brave and young like him._

Another part of her felt a little bit annoyed...annoyed that her father made the young boy a superhero suit. Yet, he refused to build Morgan one.

_“Will you build me a big strong armor when I grow up?”_

_“No, little Miss. You don’t need an armor. You’ve got me to protect you.”_

Furthermore, Morgan did a little bit more research before bedtime and found out more about Peter's life. He did part-time jobs every now and then, and he lived with his aunt, May Parker.

Speaking of May, the young girl thought of Spider-man’s aunt.

_She must be lonely,_ she thought to herself. She knew the feeling of missing someone she loved. May Parker and Morgan were alike in so many ways. They were both victims of loneliness. Waiting for something. _Always._

“Well, aren’t you looking a little sleepy.” Happy pointed out as he entered the kitchen. He shooed Dum-E away and proceeded to wash his hand at the sink.

“Just a little bit.” Morgan admitted.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Happy asked as he sat down across from her. "It's a weekend...we can do whatever you want?"

“I want to go somewhere.” She answered.

“Can you take me to Queens?” 

Happy kept a straight face as he drove the black Audi through the streets of New York. Every couple of minutes, he would divert his attention to the girl sitting in the backseat.

Morgan sat in the passenger seat, curiously taking note of their surroundings. She looked like she was contemplating something…as if she was searching for something.

“So…you wanna tell me why an eight-year-old such as yourself wants to go all the way to Queens?” he asked as the car approached some traffic in the road. "You know, most kids would spend their weekends at the park or something..."

Morgan bit her lower lip and sighed. “This is where Spider-man used to live, right?”

Happy made a choking sound in his throat; he was surprised that Morgan knew anything about the masked superhero. In fact, he hadn’t even heard _that_ name in years.

“Uh…h-how do you know that?”

“Can you take me to see his aunt? May Parker?” the girl asked, ignoring the man’s question.

“Okay, how do you know about HER?” Happy asked in an incredulous tone. “Seriously, kid, are you not telling me something?”

Morgan hesitated at Happy’s questioning. She pursed her lips for a moment before replying, “I just_ need_ to find her. Can you take me to her? Please, Uncle Happy?”

Happy turned his head to fully take a look at the young girl sitting behind him. He narrowed his eyes at her pleading and stared at her, trying to see what Morgan was up to. She gave him a determined look that made her look older than her age or size.

Sighing to himself, he faced the road and entered the address into the GPS.

The two stood in the hallway of the apartment building, silently staring at the door in front of them. Neither Morgan nor Happy made any move, and they both anxiously stood like two frozen statues.

“Well, _you_ were the one who wanted to go here so badly. _You_ should knock.” Happy nudged Morgan in the shoulder. The girl looked up at him with an unsure look on her face. He shrugged and gave her another nudge.

Slowly, Morgan raised her hand and landed three quick soft knocks on the door.

“Who is it?” a woman’s voice asked from the other side of the wall. Morgan’s eyes widened and she looked back at Happy with pleading eyes.

“Uhhh…it’s Happy? Happy Hogan.” Happy called out.

After Happy had announced who he was, there was a couple of seconds of silence. The young girl waited with anticipation to see if the woman would even open the door to them. Happy held his breath as he waited for any sort of reaction from the woman.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and May Parker peeked her head out to stare at the visitor outside her apartment. Morgan stepped back and half-hid herself behind Happy’s huge frame.

May Parker narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. She frowned at him and said, “Happy? What are you doing here?...You haven’t been here in years.”

Happy nodded. “Yeah I know…it’s been a couple of years. But May, listen-”

“You should leave.” May said in a sharp voice, cutting him off. “I don’t want you here. You guys have done nothing but cause me pain.”

“May…please…I’m sorry, you know that-“

“Seriously, Mr. Hogan. I appreciate you checking up on me, but you have no reason to be here. Now, goodbye.” The woman replied in a no-nonsense manner. She made a move to close the door, but Happy quickly reached out to keep the door from slamming shut.

“I’m only doing this because this one wanted to see you.” He hurriedly said, his eyes looking pointedly at the little girl who was nervously standing behind his arm.

May looked at the young girl standing behind the man. She knew that this was Tony Stark’s daughter; the girl’s big brown eyes matched the deceased-man’s eyes as she stared at her in uncertainty.

“Hi”, the girl whispered.

May’s heart broke at the girl’s voice; she sounded so young and innocent. Somehow, the little girl reminded her of Peter…_her Peter_.

May gulped and she gave Happy a long hard look. He shrugged and wrapped an arm around the young girl’s shoulders.

Slowly, the woman pushed the door open to let the two guests in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola, here is another addition to the story. Morgan now knows Peter Parker. Now, why does she want to talk to May?
> 
> Honestly, this chapter is a little bit short and that's because I had initially planned to write one really long chapter but decided against it, so I decided to split it into two. I'm probably going to post the continuation sometime this week, maybe Friday? So, watch out for that.
> 
> Anyways, please leave a kudos and a comment if you like the story so far. I'd really appreciate it.


End file.
